Hornbeck was saying how he wants to take a look around and see where he should sit. He calls it a "battlefield" because he knows that there will be a bunch of angry people arguing about the trial. He is also worried about the journalists taking his story, but he still thinks his story will be better. He calls them camp-followers because they just go around and follow people when there is a story and all come in groups.
You folks are on the right track. The story is so big that no one can really steal it. The focus is more so on his comparing the journalists to camp followers (or civilian who follows a military unit from place to place, especially as a vendor of supplies or as a prostitute). He is comparing the courtroom to a battle field, while at the same time expressing how highly that he thinks about his journalistic abilities.
Mr. Ruggeri
You folks are on the right track. The story is so big that no one can really steal it. The focus is more so on his comparing the journalists to camp followers (or civilian who follows a military unit from place to place, especially as a vendor of supplies or as a prostitute). He is comparing the courtroom to a battle field, while at the same time expressing how highly that he thinks about his journalistic abilities.
Mr. Ruggeri